The OG Plants Vs. Zombies came out in 2009 as a tower defense game. You know, the plants are the good guys that protect the humans from the brain-eating zombies? Well, that idea blew up and landed the indie publisher and developer PopCap Games a deal with Electronic Arts to make Plants Vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time and Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 1 and 2.
Fast-forward and we see the creator George Fan unhappy with EA’s decision to make Plants Vs. Zombies 2 a freemium game, which Fan would later be laid off and no longer work at PopCap Games and EA.
Regarding recent rumors, it is true I was laid off by EA/PopCap, and also true that I was against making PvZ2 a freemium game. That's all I'll say on the matter for now
— George Fan (@thegeorgefan) November 21, 2017
The above tweet was disclosed back on November 21st, 2017.
Jump to 2019 as of July, and we now have Plants Vs. Zombies 3 announced as a pre-alpha trial that will more than likely feature EA’s favorite mechanic: microtransactions or “surprises mechanics“.
As it stands now, the free-to-play game is in a feedback phase. In other words, the devs want issues regarding “combat features” and the like reported.
Furthermore, three screenshots (compiled into one image) of in-game footage have surfaced showing different things going on in the pre-alpha free-to-play game. If you want to, you can see parts of the game below:
It’s worth mentioning that EA has a bulleted section on ea.com explaining what’s all in the pre-alpha version of the game. And guess what? One of the notes claim that there are no microtransactions in the pre-alpha, but there will likely be MTX or surprise mechanics at launch. The FAQ reads…
“There are no microtransactions during Pre-Alpha.”
So there you have it, the next installment in the Plants Vs. Zombies series is another free-to-play game waiting to steal your money at launch with all sorts of “surprise” and “ethical” mechanics.
Lastly, Plants vs. Zombies 3’s pre-alpha requires a modern Android device where space is limited. However, iOS users aren’t allowed to test the pre-alpha as of this writing.
